Biological and Cognitive Psychology Essay

Introduction to Biological and Cognitive Psychology

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Essay

This essay introduces the genetic and environmental factors which are important to know that affect the development of the brain and also affect the lifespan development of humans. In this essay, the reader will get to know about the biological psychology that affects the function and development of the brain. With the help of this essay, the 8 lifespan development stages will be identified of the human beings which also impacts the complex and compound structure of the brain. It will be analyzed that the early stages of lifespan development react on the body differently as per the capacity of the brain.

Genetic and environmental factors affect the brain together to shape early brain development (Hagler Jr et al., 2019). It has been identified that environmental factors have been influenced by the growth rates. It has been analyzed that there are many environmental factors that have influenced the brain of a human being which include social interactions, air pollution, and climate change, exposure to physical harm, emotional harm, and patterns of behavior. These environmental factors, affect brain development (Lebel and Deoni, 2018). From the research, it has been identified that the genetic and environmental factors affect the brain at each stage of life span such as pre-natal, post-natal, infant, childhood, adolescent, young adult, adult, or elderly stages of life (Thompson et al., 2020). The Environmental factors make the social, physical, and attitudinal environment with which people conduct their lives. It has been identified from the research that genetic factors are always called genes that have been passed from one's parents. This is something that relates to traits and behavior which has been transferred from the parents to their child. It has been analyzed that genetic factors have been playing an important in the development of anxiety disorders in humans (Petersen, 2017). It has been identified that there are many genetic factors that affect the brain which include genetic disorders, genetic predispositions, and genetically inherited characteristics (Petersen 2017).

Examples of genetic factors include genetic disorder which includes single gene disorder, chromosomal disorders, and complex disorders. It has been analyzed that Rett syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects the human brain development, which results in mental and physical disability (Misiak et al., 2018). There are many diseases of genetic disorders which include Apert syndrome, Down syndrome, Huntington disease, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, and so on. It has been analyzed that genetic brain disorders affect the function & development of the brain in the human body. Some genetic disorders which have been analyzing caused due to gene mutations or these mutations caused by environmental exposure like cigarette smoke (Foster, Rinaman and Cryan, 2017). It has been identified that some genetic disorders have been transferred at the time of birth but some disorders show at the age of 30 to 70 years (Lebel and Deoni, 2018). It has been analyzed that genetic disorders are caused by the variation or a mutation in a gene (Hagler Jr et al, 2019). A variation is a different form of a gene that affects the human brain. With the help of research, it has been identified that people with genetic disorders are not able to produce enough protein for the development of the brain.

An example of an environmental factor that is related to social interaction affects the brain according to the different lifecycle stages of a human being. In general, it has been identified that social network provides support to an individual, reduce stress, enhances intellectual stimulation, combats depression, and so on (Giacobbo et al., 2019). According to Foulkes and Blakemore (2018), it has been identified that those who are with the most social interactions decrease the chances of loss of memory. It has been identified that this environmental factor affects the youth-adult age which is one of the stages of the lifecycle of the human being. It has been analyzed that at the youth stage, the social interactions affect more because of complexity and sensitivity in nature (Foster, Rinaman, and Cryan, 2017).

It has been identified that there are 8 stages of lifespan development of a human being which include prenatal development, infancy and toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood, and death & dying (Hagler Jr et al., 2019). These are the lifespan stages of a human being that affect the genetic and environmental factors while having an impact on the brain. At the youth stage, people like to interact within the society that develops their minds accordingly. There are many things that affect the life of human beings like alcohol, cigarette, drugs, and so on. It has been identified that alcohol has an insightful effect on the compound structures of the brain (Giacobbo et al., 2019). While drinking the alcohol, blocks the chemical signal between brain cells while leads to an imprudent behavior of the people, poor memory, garbled speech, and slowed reactions. It has been analyzed that alcohol has been affecting the development and function of the brain from the stage of youth-adult age. This is very dangerous that spoils the life of a human being while consuming continuously or on daily basis. At the stage of Adolescence, the human being attracts to such things as alcohol, drugs, and the cigarette because at this stage there is a change in the overall physical growth and also sexual maturation which is known as puberty. At this stage, if the human being attracts towards alcohol then it will affect the other stages of lifespan because alcohol effects with the development of the mind at every stage (Foster, Rinaman, and Cryan, 2017).

Patterns of behavior as an environmental factor affect the brain because the behavior of the people acts in concert with the changes in the environment. The pattern of thinking of a human being affects the process of processing information, such as related to the concepts, engage in problem solving to reason, and make decisions (Foulkes and Blakemore, 2018). It has been analyzed from the post-natal stage; it affects the development of the brain. It is depending on a human being that how he or she reacts in a particular situation according to his pattern of behavior. It has been identified that the pattern of behavior developed in human beings according to their surroundings. It has been analyzed that the children adopts and grab the things from environment quickly which changes their behavior pattern (Bergdolt and Dunaevsky, 2019). It has been identified that the brain controls the behavior of human beings as it is all depends on an individual surroundings. There are many factors that affect the thinking pattern of a human being that automatically impacts the development of the brain. Stress, anxiety, depression, and so many factors change the behavior pattern of human beings which impact the development of the brain. It has been analyzed that from the stage of post-natal in which the child grabs the things from the environment, there is a change in the thinking behavior of an individual (Thompson et al, 2020).

At the stage of pre-natal, it has been analyzed that the genetic factors influence the development and function of the brain. It has been identified that the genes are controlling how an individual move, think, and react on a particular situation. It has been identified that the development of the brain can easily be molded with genetic factors or environmental factors. It has been identified that at the starting phase of lifespan development the brain of a human being can easily be changed as per the environment an individual is living. It has been analyzed that the genetic factors and environmental factors affect the lifespan development of the human being according to their capturing capacity (Misiak et al, 2018). For example, it has been identified that cigarette damages the part of a brain of the human body with damages of lungs also. According to the research, it has been analyzed that long-term smoking could origin the thinning of the brain's cortex. It has been analyzed that at the stage of adolescence, the brain is very sensitive to the effects of cigarettes. It has been analyzed that at this stage smoking increases the risk of evolving psychiatric disorders & cognitive deficiency in life (Petersen, 2017). The stage of adolescence is a period in which physical changes have been marked by the changes in growth and sexual maturation which is called puberty. It is that part of lifespan development with which the human being grabs things quickly which affects the development of the brain. At this stage, it largely impacts the area of the brain which includes attention, learning, memory, and brain plasticity (Thompson et al., 2020).

The young adult is those periods in which the human beings are their physiological peak are the most risks involvement in crimes and substance abuse. It has been identified that work & love are primary concerns at this stage of life (Giacobbo et al, 2019). When the adolescent stage compares with the young adult age then it has been identified that at this stage, long term smoking decline cognitive psychology. On the other hand, cigarette changes the adolescents' brain cell activity in the parts of the brain. From both the stages it has been analyzed that there is a difference in the effects (Foster, Rinaman, and Cryan, 2017). With the help of research, it came to know that at the early stages of lifespan development, the effects of genetic and environmental factors are different according to the capacity of a human body but the early stages grab the things quickly (Misiak et al., 2018).

One of the examples of genetic factors that impact the most according to the lifespan development and function of the brain includes genetically inherited characteristics (Lebel and Deoni, 2018). It has been identified or in general, parents pass on the traits or characteristics to their children such as the color of the eye, their blood types and so on. They are passing on some diseases too through their genes. The examples of inherited traits include eye color, hair color, muscle structure, bone structure, and so on (Foulkes and Blakemore, 2018). The biological factors include brain chemistry, genetic influences, hormone levels, nutrition and gender. It has been analyzed at the stage of pre-natal development; the conception and development begin in a child which cannot be identified by the human beings that which genes are transferred to him from the parents. At the stage of early child hood, some of the genes can be identified by their parents because from the childhood itself children's are showing their habits on certain things (Lebel and Deoni, 2018). There is a comparison between the lifespan developments of the human being at different stages because according to the stage, the children, adolescence or young adult shows the symptoms of genes which have been received by them from their parents.

It has been concluded that the genetic and environmental factors impact the development of the brain of a human being. There are many factors of genetic that have been identified such as genetic disorder in which three disorders has been analyzed which have been passed on through their parents such as single-use disorder, chromosomal disorders, and complex disorder. It has been analyzed that there are many genetic inherited characteristics that have been passed on to the children's such as eye color, hair color, the shape of the nose, and so on. Some diseases are also pass on to their children's which came to know at the stage of young adult lifespan development mostly. The environmental factors impact has also been identified which include the social interactions and pattern of behavior on certain situations. Social interactions have been affecting the development of the brain because it is all depends on the surroundings in which an individual is living. The social interactions impact the after the young adult stage of a human being which has been identified because from this stage an individual has been socially interacted all time according to his environment and grans the things accordingly. It has been analyzed that these factors are important to know so that an individual can easily come to know about the impacts of these factors on the development of the brain as per the lifespan stages.

References

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Foster, J.A., Rinaman, L. and Cryan, J.F., (2017). Stress & the gut-brain axis: regulation by the microbiome. Neurobiology of Stress, 7, 124-136.

Foulkes, L. and Blakemore, S.J., (2018). Studying individual differences in human adolescent brain development. Nature neuroscience, 21(3), 315-323.

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